Mobile collapsible floating oil container

ABSTRACT

This invention relates to a flexible, collapsible, floating container (1) for receiving and holding liquids such as oil recovered from oil spills. Specifically, the invention relates to a continuous, sealed, collapsible container having an upper portion which has a positivebuoyancy to maintain an upright position of the container while collapsed and when filled with oil. A rigid ring (2) with a valve (4) for introducing the liquid is located in the upper portion. A stabilizer to prevent rotation and provide stability may be attached to a lower portion of the container. A strengthening layer, such as nylon mesh (16) could be added to surround the container (1), as well as a harness for lifting the container out of the water. The container (1) expands and floats as it becomes filled.

This application claims benefit of provisional Appl. No. 60/006,027filed Oct. 18, 1995.

The invention relates to a collapsible floating container for receivingand holding liquids. In particular, the invention relates to a containerfor holding oil pumped from an oil slick on a body of water.

BACKGROUND

In attempting to contain and remove oil floating on a body of water,i.e., an oil slick, there is presently a problem associated with holdingand then removing the oil from the site once it has been removed fromthe surface of the water. Currently, the oil is simply pumped intowaiting barges. However, it can be costly, difficult and time-consumingto gather and deploy a sufficient number of barges on short notice. Toovercome this problem, the present inventors have now devised a systemutilizing a large number of easily transportable, rapidly deployable,lightweight, collapsible oil containers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows a container of the invention in partial cross-section in acollapsed state before being filled with oil;

FIG. 2 shows the container in an expanded state filled with oil.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 shows a container of the invention in partial cross-section in acollapsed state before being filled with oil. A rigid ring 2 is locatedat the top end of the container 1, substantially in the center of abuoyant, upper portion, and contains a valve 4. The ring and valveoperate to connectingly and sealingly receive a hose or pipe throughwhich the incoming oil is passed. The valve 4 could be any valve ofknown construction capable of receiving a hose or pipe, and which formsa seal. It could be, for example, a ball valve or a one-way flapperwhich is mechanically opened by the force of the oil or other liquidbeing pumped into the container. The valve could also be spring loadedto check reverse flow, or be designed to open mechanically by the forceof the hose or pipe itself.

The remaining body portion 6 of the container is flexible andcollapsible. It may be constructed of any buoyant, non-permeablematerial, but it must be resistant to degradation or chemicalinteraction between itself and the oil or other liquid intended to bepumped into the container. As a preferred embodiment, the body portionwould be a reinforced rubber material, having a thickness ofapproximately 0.060 inches. Alternatively, the body portion could bedisposable by using an inexpensive plastic material. The material mustalso have sufficient strength to maintain the integrity of the containerin a filled state, and when the container is eventually removed from thewater to empty the contents.

With this in mind, the body portion 6 may comprise an upper portion 8composed of a buoyant skin which causes the container to float near thesurface of the water. The buoyant skin can be achieved by providing,e.g., a plastic or rubber sheet interspersed with a plurality of smallair-containing pockets or cells 10, such as that found commonly in"bubble wrap." Additional materials may be used to provide bouyancy,such as styrofoam, foam rubber, or other material having a densitysubstantially less than that of fresh or salt water. The buoyant skinshould provide sufficient buoyancy to the container when full tomaintain approximately one-third of the container above the water level.This is particularly important when the oil or liquid used to fill thecontainer has a density greater than the water in which the containermust float, whether it is fresh water or salt, sea water.

The strength of the upper portion may be reinforced by the addition ofanother layer. As shown in FIG. 1, the additional layer, preferably anylon mesh layer 16 surrounds the upper portion, and could be eitherpermanently fixed or made to be removable. This would depend on thematerial chosen for the body portion and whether it is intended that thebody portion would be disposable. The preferred embodiment shown in FIG.1 illustrates reinforcing layer 16 to be outside buoyant layer 10, whichin turn covers the body portion 6.

In order to lift the container once it has been filled completely withoil, the container may be provided with a support harness 18 removablysurrounding the body portion. The support harness 18 may consist of aseries of flexible interconnecting belts surrounding the container andfitted with a series of hooks 20. Also, the support harness could beconstructed integrally with the nylon mesh or other reinforcementmaterial, and be provided thereby in a single covering or layer.

The lower portion 12 of the body portion 6 is formed, e.g., by a regular(i.e. non-buoyant) plastic or rubber flexible sheet, and in any caseshould be less buoyant in comparison to the upper portion 8. Where aseparate buoyant layer is provided surrounding the upper body portion,the lower portion could be of the same material as used for the upperportion. In this embodiment, the container would comprise a continuous,internal bladder 22, extruded or manufactured from the same piece ofmaterial and not having a seam. Where the upper and lower portions aretwo different materials, however, the upper portion 8 and lower portion12 of the body portion of the container are joined to provide anessentially continuous, sealed container.

Any material of sufficient flexibility to allow the container tocollapse when empty, and of sufficient strength to be able to support alarge weight of oil contained, may be used. Alternatively, the upperportion may be a semi-flexible (or semi-rigid) material, such that theupper portion maintains the shape of the container, even while empty.Then, in the collapsed state the lower flexible portion or bladder foldsinto the upper portion, which is not totally collapsible into a "flat"configuration, but holds the upper shape of the container. FIG. 1 showsa container that forms a sphere when filled, but a container of almostany shape could be constructed. However, the filled container should beof such a design that it will maintain stability in water and remainupright, keeping the valve at the top. FIG. 1 also illustrates that theupper portion maintains the overall shape of the container when it ismade of semi-flexible material.

In order to maintain stability and prevent uncontrolled rotation of thecontainer, a rigid stabilizer 14 is attached to the underside of thelower portion. Ideally, the stabilizer may be of planar construction andlocated substantially in the center of the container, aligned about avertical axis. However, other stabilizer configurations may accomplishthe desired effect.

FIG. 2 shows the container when filled with oil. The buoyancy of theupper portion causes the container to float on the surface of the waterin the proper upright position with the ring and valve reaching out ofthe water. The weight of the oil within the container pulls down on thelower portion. The generally rigid stabilizer 14 is shown extending fromthe bottom of the container to maintain stability within the water. Thecontainer may advantageously be surrounded by a removable support 16,e.g., a nylon netting, to reinforce the strength of the container.

Oil from an oil slick is collected with an oil boom and pumped into thewaiting containers. Once filled, each container may then be lifted outof the water by way of the hook and harness system, and emptied into asuitable receptacle. The container is then removed from the harness andsupport netting, which are reused with a new container.

It will be appreciated that various departures and modifications can bemade to the foregoing container by those knowledgeable in the artwithout departing from the spirit of the invention, and that certainchanges and modifications may be practiced within the scope of theappended claims.

We claim:
 1. A collapsible floating container for receiving and holdingliquids, comprising;a flexible, buoyant upper portion having an upperand a lower surface and a perimeter, a flexible lower portion alsohaving a perimeter and a buoyancy less than that of the upper portion, arigid ring located substantially in the center of the upper buoyantportion, having a valve for connectingly and sealingly receiving a hoseor pipe fitting, and wherein the buoyant upper portion is sealinglyjoined along its perimeter to the perimeter of the lower portion to forma body portion, and provides a buoyancy sufficient to cause thecontainer to float when in an unfilled, collapsed state, and the lowerportion operates as a ballast to keep the container in an uprightposition when in a partially or fully filled state and to keep the rigidring and valve at the top of the container, and wherein the addition ofa liquid through the valve while the container is in the collapsed statecauses the container to expand to a filled state in which the containerremains floatable and in a stable, upright position.
 2. The containeraccording to claim 1 wherein the flexible upper and lower portions areconstructed of materials that are chemically resistant to the liquid tobe added to the container.
 3. The container according to claim 2,wherein the upper portion further comprises a separate buoyant layer. 4.The container according to claim 3, wherein the separate, buoyant layerfurther comprises a plurality of small, air-containing pockets.
 5. Thecontainer according to claim 2, further comprising means for lifting thefilled container.
 6. The container according to claim 5, wherein themeans for lifting the container comprises a support harness removablysurrounding the body portion of the container.
 7. The containeraccording to claim 6, further comprising means for reinforcing thestrength of the body portion of the container.
 8. The containeraccording to claim 7, wherein the reinforcing means comprises nylonnetting removably surrounding the body portion.
 9. The containeraccording to claim 6, wherein the support harness further comprises aseries of flexible interconnecting belts surrounding the container andfitted with a series of hooks.
 10. The container according to claim 9wherein the flexible interconnecting belts are incorporated into thereinforcement means.
 11. The container according to claim 2, wherein thebuoyant upper portion has a buoyancy sufficient to maintain thecontainer floating and in an upright position even when the container isfilled with liquid having a density greater than the water in which thecontainer floats.
 12. The container according to claim 1, furthercomprising a stabilizer extending from the lower portion to providestability of the container within the water.
 13. The container accordingto claim 12, wherein the stabilizer extends downward along a verticalaxis from substantially near the center of the lower portion.
 14. Thecontainer according to claim 13 wherein the stabilizer is in the form ofa rudder.
 15. The container according to claim 1, wherein the upperportion is semi-flexible which maintains, in the upper portion, theshape of the container while in an empty state.
 16. A collapsiblefloating container for receiving and holding liquids, comprising;a bodyportion having a flexible, buoyant upper portion joined to a flexiblelower portion having a buoyancy less than the upper portion, forming acontinuous, sealed container, and further comprising a rigid ringlocated substantially in the center of the upper buoyant portion, havinga valve for connectingly and sealingly receiving a hose or pipe fitting,a stabilizer extending downward along a vertical axis from the lowerportion to provide stability of the container within the water, supportmeans to aide in removing the container from the water when filled, andwherein the upper portion is sufficiently buoyant to float the containerin an upright position when filled with liquid, even if the liquid has adensity greater than the water in which the container floats.
 17. Acollapsible floating container for receiving and holding liquids,comprising;a flexible, continuous, single-piece body portion in the formof a bladder having an upper surface and a lower surface, constructed ofa materials that is chemically resistant to a liquid to be added to thecontainer, a buoyant upper portion as a separate layer removablycovering the upper surface of the body portion, a rigid ring locatedsubstantially in the center of the upper surface of the body portion,having a valve for connectingly and sealingly receiving a hose or pipefitting, and wherein the buoyant upper portion provides a buoyancysufficient to cause the container to float when in an unfilled,collapsed state, and to maintain the container floating and in anupright position even when the container is filled with liquid having adensity greater than the water in which the container floats and to keepthe rigid ring and valve at the top of the container, and wherein theaddition of a liquid through the valve while the container is in thecollapsed state causes the container to expand to a filled state inwhich the container remains floatable and in a stable, upright position.18. The container according to claim 17, wherein the buoyant, upperportion further comprises a plurality of small, air-containing pockets.19. The container according to claim 17, further comprising stabilizingmeans extending from the lower surface of the body portion.
 20. Thecontainer according to claim 19, further comprising means for liftingthe filled container and means for reinforcing the strength of the bodyportion of the container.